Coin holders and dispensers are conventionally known in several forms. In one common form, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,893 to Mangigan, issued Dec. 7, 1993, the dispenser has a crescent shaped ledge at the top of each chamber, opposite an ejection opening, to retain the coins. Each chamber contains a plate-like follower over a compression spring which urges a stack of coins upwards against the ledge. The follower and the stack of coins will easily tilt when pressured by a user's finger. A portion of the topmost coin is exposed and may be slid out by the user.
In one prior art device, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,321 to Benson, issued Jun. 25, 1991, the chamber also includes a lip which retains the topmost coin from sliding out. The coin stack must be tilted such that the outer edge of the topmost coin passes over the lip, at which point the coin may be slid out from the chamber.
These and other prior art devices compromise their design as a result of two conflicting design goals: the coin holder must securely retain the coins and prevent unintentional ejection while allowing easy and convenient removal of coins when desired. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved coin holder which achieves both goals of security and convenience.
Also, lower denomination bills are being replaced by coins in many countries. Canada now issues one and two dollar coins and as result has six different coins in mass circulation. In order of increasing size, they are the 10 cent piece, the penny, the 5 cent piece, the 25 cent piece, the dollar coin and the two dollar coin. As well, the United States will soon be using a one dollar coin in place of the one dollar bill. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a coin holder which is compact enough to comfortably carry in a pocket or purse while being able to carry many different coin sizes securely.